More Taro Ko Chips!!

I ordered 80 bags this time!

Leslie's Parmesan Fish Sticks

Awhile back Les made these salmon Parmesan Fish Sticks. They were really good, especially the low-fat dip. She got the recipe from foodnetwork.com courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis.

An E-Mail from Teisy

After Kino Kintaro passed away, I tried to stay close to his family. Almost every weekend I would pick up some of the kids, so that I could spend some time with them.

Chuukese families are huge and there were many, many children in Kino's family, but Teisy Tatashy always held a very special place in my heart. She is Kino's cousin. She was only 4 years old when he passed away. As the years went on, and the time we spent together dwindled, Teisy still always made sure to keep in touch with me.

Teisy is 19 years old now and is attending Pacific Island University on Guam. She still e-mails me occasionally. I replied to one of her e-mails recently and directed her to my post on Kino. She read it for the first time and sent me this:

HI aunty

Thanks for writting back...and yes, the story is long, but I can't stop reading it.....as i was reading it, i can just picture those times when you first saw him and when you visited him....even though i was young that time, I still remember him....I think the reason why you keep on thinking about Kino is that God is reminding you that you are a unique person...even though Kino wasn't someone you knew....it was God who gave you that feeling to help him out...It was God who gave you that sort of feeling to feel for him....God is good. All the time Jalna....many times in life we are so busy with work, family and all the things we do....and we forget that it was HIM (God) who has blessed our lifes with our family and the kind of work we do....I may not know if you believe in God...but I know you have a feeling that there is that True GOd...the one who created the heaven and the earth.....just take a time to look around aunty, and see how amazing God is. All these we see around us was created by the most creative and number one artist which is GOD alone:) This relationship we have between us will not be forgotten...you've been part of my life ever since i was young....and the best!!! I love you for who you are to me, and I surely thank God for you!!...though we are miles miles apart...but in heart and prayers we are together...I'm sorry for this long letter aunty, but this is what's on my heart at this moment.....and until then we will always meet again right?...:) God loves you and so do I. love always, Teisy. Tatashy

Here is Teisy . Teisy is in the middle of the pack watching TV.

I took a few of them to the zoo on this day.

This day was especially fun. I packed all these kids into my Honda Civic and brought them to my house. Pizza was one of their favorites. That's Teisy in the back.

Here we are watching Landon at Kaiser field playing baseball.

Here're Teisy and some cousins playing some Nintendo game.
This is one of my favorite pics.
This is one of the last photos I have of Teisy with her mom Sanci.

Hey Sweetie, I love you!!

City Cafe Again

City Cafe is on Makaloa across from Walgreens. A few days ago I strolled over to pick up lunch.

Owners Scott and Serena told me that they opened up about 2 months ago.
Here's the Deluxe BLT that I ordered ($5.25). It was veeeeery good.

City Club Sandwich ($5.25)

They have a special this month - free Caesar salad with every sandwich. The sandwich also normally comes with chips, so that was a good deal.

Here's a Mango Delight Smoothie ($4.06). I liked that it had a sealed lid so I didn't have to worry about spilling it on the way back.

This is my favorite - I posted pictures of this Shave Ice before, but it deserves a second look. It has custard, mochi balls and azuki beans, sooooo yummy ($3.34)!

This shave ice had gel instead of the azuki beans for coworker Mel who doesn't care for the beans.

Blueberry scone ($1.53). Their scones are made fresh daily.

I liked my sandwich and the shaved ice so much that I called Serena and told her that the florist on the first floor of our building is no longer in business and that the prime location is now vacant. I told her she should move there. She laughed.

My RAV4

So I just bought my first new car in like over 20 years this past Saturday and a few days later it gets recalled . . . whatda . . . ? Wendell called Servco Toyota. According to the guy there, our particular car was manufactured in Japan, so we no need worry. Thanks so much, Bobbi and Walter, for e-mailing me with your concerns.

Here it is . . . nothing fancy . . . pretty plain . . . just like me. When I got my first new car (a Honda Civic) many, many years ago, I banged Wendell's car with it in our driveway when it was only a few weeks old. I hope I do better with this car . . . it's way bigger than my Civic was, and I am very much a crappy Woman Driver.

Cy's Kulolo

Last week Friday, my brother Cy e-mailed me and my sisters saying that he had just bought some kulolo and had paid $7.70 a pound for it. Appalled at the high price he said that he wanted a recipe so that he could try to make it himself. I warned him that I had tried making it once before and it was so hard to make and had turned out sooo HORRIBLE that I trashed the whole thing and never tried to make it again. I found links to 4 online recipes. He chose the recipe from cooking-recipe.org and made this kulolo.

It was so ono, I was shocked! He said he didn't have brown sugar so he used white instead. He also didn't have any ti leaves. And instead of grating the taro (which is a pain) he busted out the old Osterizer and "osterized" it instead.

2010 Ala Wai Challenge

The 2010 Ala Wai Challenge was held this past Sunday. My plan was that if I found parking I would go, if not, I would go home. Luckily, I found on-street parking although it was faaaaaar away. I took CHOKE pictures, so I'm posting CHOKE pictures.